Merseyside builder fined after putting lives at risk

A Merseyside builder has been fined £1,500 after he and another man were spotted working on a pub roof in St Helens without safety equipment.

Worker balancing dangerously on pub roof

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Charles Molloy from Molloy Building Contractors after an inspector spotted the men on the roof of the Black Horse Hotel on Park Road on 18 June 2009.

St Helens Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Molloy, 64, had been hired to replace the ridge tiles on the top of the pub roof. But neither he nor the worker he employed wore harnesses, put up scaffolding or took any other safety precautions.

Mr Molloy also ignored advice he was given about the way he was working by an Environmental Health Officer from St Helens Council, a few days before HSE's visit.

Mr Molloy, of Marshalls Cross, St Helens, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to take measures to prevent workers falling.

He was ordered to pay £1,000 towards the cost of the prosecution in addition to the fine at St Helens Magistrates' Court on 9 March 2010.

HSE Inspector Sandra Tomlinson said:

"Mr Molloy apparently had little concern for his own safety, or that of those he employed, by working so precariously on a rooftop.

"When we visited the site and saw both men still working on the roof without safety equipment after previous warnings, we had no choice but to take legal action.

"Falls from height kill dozens of workers every year and seriously injure hundreds more. We will therefore continue to prosecute employers who put lives in danger."

Falls from height are the biggest single cause of workplace deaths in the UK. More information on working safely at height is available here.